Various devices have been developed for improving traction between a vehicle's tires and a road surface made slippery by adverse weather or inferior roadbed conditions such as ice, snow, mud, and desert sand. Proposed traction devices help a vehicle drive out of a rut or pothole by gaining additional traction from materials placed into the path of the tires. Such traction aids include boards, burlap bags, pieces of carpeting, tire chains, and various bulky ramps, for example. These makeshift means are generally ineffective when caught and thrown out by the rotating tires. Typically, a standard block of wood is used with the assistance of numerous people to free off-roaders in desert terrain, which often leads to damaged tires and vehicles.
Other traction devices are prohibitively expensive to purchase and unsafe to handle because of sharp edges and heavy components. Prior traction mats are often difficult to position beneath the vehicle's tires for use. When a vehicle's tires become mired in snow, mud, or desert sand for some depth, the resulting ruts formed by the vehicle's tires are often deep and steeply sloping. Flexible traction mats tend to closely conform to steeply sloping walls of a rut or may sink in various road conditions, making it difficult for a vehicle to climb out under its own power. When a prior traction mat is used to extricate a vehicle from such an environment, the tire frequently engages and slides against the leading or front edge of the mat without gaining a satisfactory grip.
A motorist may want access to a variety of vehicle tools without having to store numerous devices in the vehicle. While traction mats and other aids such as jacks and repair ramps can be carried in a vehicle, they fight for storage space with other items. Manual and automated vehicle jacks are usually carried in a vehicle and used principally to assist a motorist with changing a vehicle's tire. A manual jack that attaches to the bumper or frame of vehicle at designated points is a widely used method of jacking or lifting a vehicle. After placement, a manual jack is usually cranked to lift the vehicle and repair a desired tire. An all-in-one traction jack device needs to save the motorist time and effort by helping the tires to regain traction for return to the roadway and to eliminate the high cost of an emergency road service truck for winching the stranded vehicle from a slippery hole or rut.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an effective, space-saving vehicle traction jack device that provides additional traction and a ramped surface to lend traction to move a vehicle's tires when the tires are stuck in terrain and/or weather conditions.